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Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Indian Nation talk while signing an agreement on the Oneidas' Turning Stone casino during a news conference May 16. The deal giving the Oneidas a casino monopoly in Central New York has been challenged in court by the Cayuga Nation.
(The Associated Press)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Cayuga Nation has gone to court to challenge the deal that would give the Oneida Indian Nation exclusive rights to casinos in Central New York.

The Cayugas argue that the deal reached between the Oneidas and Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month infringes on the rights of the Cayuga nation to open its own casino. The 10-county are in which the Oneidas would have a casino monopoly includes Cayuga County.

"We have repeatedly asked the parties to this agreement to acknowledge the Cayuga Nation's rights, but our overtures have not been met with a meaningful response," said Clint Halftown, the Cayuga Nation's federally-recognized representative, in a statement. "Therefore, the Cayuga Nation has no choice but to formally challenge this agreement in court."

Rather than filing a new lawsuit, the Cayugas are asking to join a lawsuit filed by New York state in 2008 against the federal government. The state argued that the federal Department of Interior was wrong in granting the Oneida nation about 13,000 acres of tax-exempt trust land in Madison and Oneida counties.

The Cayugas are asking to become a party to that suit so they can argue that the Oneidas casino monopoly violates federal law.

The agreement between the Oneidas and New York, announced May 16, has been ratified by the legislatures of Madison and Oneida counties. The counties, too, have agreed to drop their litigation over the trust land and other land and tax issues.